Sunday, November 3, 2013

From Scratch: Inside The Food Network – Allen Salkin (Putnam Books)

Ah guilty pleasures.

It may seem hard to believe that the hulking giant
responsible for this review is actually a huge fan of television cooking shows!
Just so my man card doesn’t get revoked; I want to be on record very clearly
that I love football, hockey, NASCAR and action adventure movies!

So why do I watch the Food Network? Heck, one look at me and
you’ll know that I love to eat, so I have to know how to cook too! So I was
intrigued when I started reading Allen Salkin’s new book, From Scratch: Inside The Food Network because to be honest, I didn’t
know exactly how the network got started. I became a big fan of Emeril, who
truly was the network’s first recognizable superstar.

While I’m not certain that there is a whole lot of inside
scoop to be had in the pages of From
Scratch, it is interesting to see how the network developed from its
earliest days and the transition, continuing evolution and its ability to grow
a legion of superstar chefs. That title alone, superstar chef, speaks volumes
about the personality focus that the network has been able to generate.

Salkin gives interesting insight into Emeril’s departure
from the network’s nightly lineup that for whatever reason I didn’t comprehend
when it was occurring; he was there one day and gone the next. While I thought
it was a case of his status as a superstar plus his growing business interests
that was at the root of his departure, this book gives a different side of the
story.

From Scratch: Inside The Food Network makes for an interesting history
of the network with just a pinch of behind the scenes machinations to spice
things up.